Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has on March 19, apologised for allowing a Peoples Democratic Party ‘mega rally’ in the state even in the face of an emerging threat and fast spreading coronavirus disease in Nigeria.
No fewer than a thousand persons were present at the PDP rally, which had other governors of the party in attendance including Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State.
Many Nigerians via various social media platforms have described the party’s action as irresponsible and insensitive for exposing people to the danger of Coronavirus.
Makinde, who had continuously been under criticisms since the rally held on Wednesday in Ibadan, has come out to say he regretted his action which “should not have happened”.
The governor said;
have received your complaints about the rally that was held yesterday, and I feel obligated to state in clear terms that we acted based on the information we had at that time.
In retrospect, it should not have happened and I take responsibility for that lapse in judgement. We do not currently have any confirmed case of coronavirus in Oyo State; (yet,) we still all need to be more proactive.
Makinde explained that the state government would set up the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force led by himself and it would hold its first meeting on Friday, March 20, 2020.
He added that immediately after the meeting, a press conference will hold to update Oyo residents on all decisions reached.
As of Friday morning, Nigeria has 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a few suspected cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
Social distancing has been recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to prevent community transmission of the virus that has infected over 200,000 lives globally with over 8,000 attendant deaths.
